Contributions
565 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham for tabling amendment 119, which would require the Government to commit funding for a five-year funding period at least two…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)It is of course our obligation as the Government to meet the concerns of stakeholders, whether raised in the oral evidence session or elsewhere. It is also incumbent on me to…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)Indeed! The operating environment may also change and GBR may need more funding than is committed. It is right that elected Ministers are able to make decisions on public spending…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)The shadow Minister is right to point out that allocation of funding for passenger services, as opposed to other GBR activities, initially takes place through the spending review…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)Respectfully, I believe it is more sensible to be prudent and cautious regarding the funding of passenger services, rather than risk creating a situation that a newly created GBR…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)For the record, I said that we shared the aspiration to abolish boom and bust as it exists within the rail system. That applies to our infrastructure as much as it does to any…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the shadow Minister and the hon. Member for West Dorset for their amendments, all of which look to amend the Secretary of State’s statement of objectives. First, amendment…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)To my knowledge, I am not conflating the two amendments. My point is that setting objectives that are so closely tied to discernible and prescriptive standards would, in effect,…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)No, I am not willing to say that those objectives, in principle, should not be pursued as a result of this legislation. The question is where within the Bill these things reside.…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)The purpose of issuing advice is so that we can enter into an era for the railways where these discussions happen in a way that is far more commonplace than the broken-down…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for the amendments, which seek to add requirements to the production of GBR’s business plan and the ORR’s advice on that plan. However, on the subject of…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)Committees move in mysterious ways—that is all I will say. I will take each amendment in the group in turn, starting with amendment 124, which would require GBR to develop key…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I respectfully disagree with the shadow Minister’s interpretation. This is about how GBR discharges those legally binding duties, and whether we should be overly prescriptive…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)That is a very important point. While the hon. Member points to a system that is simple in the objectives that it sets out for the railway overall, I see one that provides…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)Schedule 2 will establish a new funding process for GBR that takes what we have learned from the successes of the periodic review process and applies them to the new GBR world.…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston for his contribution. He is right to note that the five-year funding process has a different period from that of the spending…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the shadow Minister for tabling amendments 22 and 23 and the hon. Member for South West Devon for speaking in their support. Amendment 22 seeks to require GBR to set…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fifth sitting)I agree with my hon. Friend’s sentiment that it is unwise to hypothesise about what potential eventualities could befall GBR in specific instances, as the shadow Minister…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fifth sitting)I will turn in a moment to the specific points that the shadow Minister raises around the chief executive, but I think I share his views on the importance of GBR’s compliance with…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I disagree with the shadow Minister’s interpretation of how the duties function in this regard. GBR cannot take a wholly self-interested, cynical interpretation of what…27 Jan 2026